This year’s theme is “Build a Better World.” We will offer a range of activities for all ages that encourage us to grow, connect and create with books, art and craft projects, science experiments and special events.

Our 2017 program calendar (below) is filled with activities for readers of all ages.

Whether keeping track of the amount of time your children spend reading or the number of books they read this summer, children who participate in the library’s summer reading program keep their brains active and enter school in the fall ready to learn and ready to succeed.

This year we will track number of minutes read (or read to). Pre-School and elementary school participants may pick out a FREE BOOK for every half-hour (30 minutes) read or read to. Teens may help themselves to Advance Reader Copies (ARC) and other FREE BOOKS. Gift Certificates for Stewarts Shops Milkshakes or Hot Fudge Sundaes will be distributed at various programs throughout the summer. Our thanks to Stewart’s Shops for their continuing generosity and support of our community!

Summer reading programs began in the 1890s as a way to encourage school children, particularly those in urban areas not needed for farm work, to read during their summer vacation, use the library and develop the habit of reading.

The benefits to readers in a summer reading program include:

encouragement that reading become a lifelong habit

reluctant readers can be drawn in by the activities

reading over the summer helps children keep their skills up

the program can generate interest in the library and books

And, it being summer, the program can just be good fun and provide an opportunity for family time.